FormGen
FormGen, Inc. was an American computer game company founded in 1987. FormGen released retail versions of many of Apogee's early mail-order games, and was the publisher of some of Apogee's later games such as Duke Nukem 3D. FormGen big box series FormGen released a number of early Apogee games in a boxed retail format in North America. These releases contained physical manuals, and both 3.5 inch disk and CD-ROM boxes were available. At least some of these releases (such as Alien Carnage, Hocus Pocus, and Raptor) also had alternate versions, possibly distributed in the UK, which featured slightly different boxes. These UK boxes used a different version of the game's logo (as is the case for Alien Carnage and Raptor), or featured a tagline on the cover (such as "Abracadabra! Your quest for action-packed magical adventure ends here..." for Hocus Pocus). This series included the following games (not counting later titles such as Rise of the Triad): * Alien Carnage * Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold * Blake Stone: Planet Strike! * Duke Nukem II * Hocus Pocus * Mystic Towers * Raptor: Call of the Shadows * Wacky Wheels Notes: Planet Strike ''was Apogee's first game made specifically for retail. The box for this game is slightly larger than the other games' boxes. ''Mystic Towers ''was published by Manaccom in Australia, while Apogee Software published the game internationally. FormGen jewel case series In 1995, FormGen released several Apogee games in a retail CD-ROM jewel case format. These jewel cases were not released in boxes (although some of these games did also have CD-ROM versions in the big box series). The jewel cases do not contain physical manuals. The following games were available in FormGen's jewel case series: * Alien Carnage * Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold * Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure * Crystal Caves * Duke Nukem II * Hocus Pocus * Major Stryker * Monster Bash * Mystic Towers * Paganitzu * Raptor: Call of the Shadows * Super Boppin' Spear of Destiny ''Spear of Destiny was the commercial sequel to id Software's Wolfenstein 3D. Although Apogee did not publish Spear of Destiny, they did resell the game. FormGen published a number of different retail releases of Spear of Destiny. Jewel case This release was packaged in a CD-ROM jewel case format. The screenshots on the back cover are from the Accessory Missions, which were not included in this release. Tuck box This release was packaged in a one-piece tuck box format. Both floppy disk and CD-ROM versions were available. The screenshots on the back cover are from the Accessory Missions, which were not included in this release. Two-piece box This release was packaged in a two-piece clamshell format, and featured holofoil logos on the box. Both floppy disk and CD-ROM versions were available, with the CD-ROM version being titled Super CD Pack. The CD-ROM version contained the base Spear of Destiny game plus both Accessory Game Missions. Ironically, this is the only release to feature screenshots of the base game and not of the Accessory Missions--despite the fact it's also the only release that does contain them. Ultimate Game Collection Ultimate Game Collection was a value pack that contained six different top-selling CD-ROM games, including Spear of Destiny. This bundle was distributed by Encore Software. WizardWorks jewel case series Kixx XL budget range Kixx XL was a label of U.S. Gold that published budget re-releases of games on floppy disk and CD-ROM in big box format. The covers consisted of a generic border surrounding a cropped version of the game's artwork. Titles by Apogee Software, such as Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold,'' Duke Nukem II'','' Hocus Pocus'','' Raptor'' and several others, were among the many games from various developers that were available in this budget range. Kixx XL releases were distributed in Europe and Australia, with the Australian versions being distributed by Metro Games. Gallery formgen_and_wizardworks_jewel_cases_-_bstone-dn2-hp-planet_1.JPG|Photo showing discs and front inserts from various jewel case releases of Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold,'' Duke Nukem II'','' Hocus Pocus'', and Blake Stone: Planet Strike! formgen_and_wizardworks_jewel_cases_-_bstone-dn2-hp-planet_2.JPG|Photo showing back covers and inside front inserts/manuals. Note that the copy of Blake Stone shown in this photo is a version that contains an order form instead of the manual. Wizardworks_blake_stone_and_raptor.JPG|WizardWorks releases of Blake Stone and Raptor with manuals. Wizardworks_blake_stone_and_raptor_-_2.JPG|Inside front covers of WizardWorks' Blake Stone and Raptor manuals. formgen_monster_bash_jewel_case.jpg|FormGen's retail CD release of Monster Bash (v2.1). formgen_monster_bash_jewel_case_opened.jpg|''Monster Bash's CD-ROM. The front insert for this game is a single sheet that is printed on both sides, whereas the front inserts from other FormGen jewel cases are a folded sheet that is printed on only one side. Trivia * The CD-ROM versions of the FormGen big box releases actually use the floppy disk boxes, which have been modified by attaching a barcode/"PC CD-ROM" sticker around the back and side of the box. This sticker covers up the box's original barcode and "PC 3 1/2" label. * The discs from the CD-ROM versions of the FormGen big boxes are packaged in generic white paper sleeves. * The FormGen jewel case releases often have yellow trays, although some copies do have the generic black trays. It is not known if all of these games originally came in cases with yellow trays. * The FormGen jewel case releases feature taglines on the covers. * Some factory-sealed copies of the FormGen jewel case releases--of ''Hocus Pocus, and possibly other games--have a sticker on the plastic wrap on the back side of the jewel case that reads "made in CANADA | fabriqué au CANADA". This kind of sticker can also be found attached to the bottom of FormGen big boxes, under the shrink wrap. * The FormGen big box releases have a corner banner on the cover that reads "Fully Registered Version | Includes all the exciting episodes!" * The FormGen jewel case releases have a banner on the cover that reads "FULL VERSION". * The Kixx XL big box releases have a banner on the cover that reads "Complete Version". * FormGen likely put "full version" notices on the covers of their releases so that customers would not confuse them with third party shareware releases which were common in stores at the time. * The destination directory for FormGen's Raptor: Call of the Shadows installer is erroneously set to "\CARNAGE\", which is in fact the directory used by Alien Carnage. The printed installation instructions for the WizardWorks releases of Raptor reflect this mistake, stating that Raptor's default location is \CARNAGE. Category:Games Category:Distributors